Non-apprenticeship VET courses : participation, persistence and subsequent pathways.

This report examines recent school leavers who commenced non-apprenticeship VET courses in Australia during the late 1990s. The focus is on the early post-school years, up to age 20. The report has two broad aims: to describe the educational, training and labour market pathways of non-apprenticeship VET course entrants; and to identify factors associated with persistence in non-apprenticeship VET courses. The report uses data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) to address each of these aims. The findings are based upon a sample of young people who had been in Year 9 in 1995 and who commenced a non-apprenticeship VET course during the period between leaving school and December 2000. Their education, training and labour market activities were tracked until late in 2001 when they were approximately 20 years of age. [Author abstract